The Portland Beavers of the MLB, est. 2001

[Questdog]

Some of you may know me from my thread on the Liberty League. I really love playing that League, but as I am having health problems right now and have nothing much to do except play OOTP all day, I would like a little variety in my baseball. Also, the Liberty League is emulating the 19th Century right now and it has been a long time since I have played any modern ball and I miss it. So I am starting this thread to take care of both issues. It will also be a balm for all those perusers of the Liberty League thread who are tired of reading about me winning another pennant. We won't win any titles here for a while.

This will be a league based on the current MLB structure of 30 teams filled with fictional players and mostly real teams.

The premise of this league is that the MLB, instead of expanding to Phoenix and St. Petersburg in 1998, decided to wait until 2001 and expanded to Portland. Also, the Montreal Expos wanted out of Canada, so the MLB let them move to Washington and then put a new expansion team in Montreal, just like they did when the Twins left Washington in 1961. The Washington Nationals will begin play in 2001 instead of 2005 and will stay in the NL East. The new Montreal Expos will be in the AL East and the Portland Beavers will be in the NL West. Otherwise, the modern MLB structure will be as it is today.

I never have liked the Arizona Diamondbacks or the Tampa Bay (Devil) Rays. Neither town had much baseball tradition prior to 1998 and neither team picked a good baseball nickname, preferring to go with arena football monikers. They would not even acknowledge their home towns with the names of their organization. Even after almost 20 years, neither quite seems like a real baseball team to me. Plus, the D-Backs have the ugliest color scheme and uniforms in existence. So I am rectifying those mistakes in this league. I originally was going to put a team in Buffalo, instead of Montreal, but that would mean creating uniforms from scratch as their real life ones look decidedly minor-league. Besides, I really like the Expos uniforms that I have found on the OOTP boards and the idea of keeping them around appealed to me. Also with the Expos in the MLB, I do not have to figure out how to replace the Buffalo minor league team.

2001 was chosen just for the fact that it is a convenient date for telling how many seasons I have played in the league. I will be the GM of the Portland Beavers (thanks to Weistheim for allowing me to infringe on his Northwest Territory!).

I won't be going into as much detail in this league as in the Liberty League. The focus will be on my team, instead of the whole of baseball. Also, it will be mostly a default setup (and no one will die, except for owners).

Changes from default settings:
1) Overall ratings based on all players, not position
2) GM-only users always in control of lineups
3) Turned storylines off
4) Put injuries on High (Realistic Modern Day)
5) Hid the injury rating
6) Turned off nicknames
7) Changed the minimum salary to an even $500,000
8) Turned off Automatic Evolution
9) Set playoffs to be like real life with 2 wild cards in MLB and eliminated split seasons in the minors.
10) Altered the player origins to be more realistic, but also have fewer Chinese and Koreans (their names do not roll off my tongue easily) and added a few Poles (I love Polish names)
11) Set MLB team budgets and markets based on their average payroll from 2001-2015.
12) Set park factors to match 3-year factors for 2015 from seamheads.com and then normalized to 1.000 average in MLB. Montreal's Olympic Stadium set using the average for the life of the stadium. Portland's Multnomah Park set by whim.
11) Altered the League Modifiers to produce stats more pleasing to my eyes.

The stats will try to emulate something between 1991 and 1993 (but not 1992...). Batting averages will be a little higher than 2016, home runs will be lower and strikeouts will be dramatically lower and stolen bases will be dramatically higher. Basically it will be 1980's baseball with a bit of an offensive boost. The overall stats only though; strategy and stamina settings will be set to 2016 standards. 7-man bullpens and no starting pitchers trying to get 300 innings or relievers getting 150 innings (though Portland will probably go with an 11-man staff).

The only house rules I will play with (unless I think of others and feel free to suggest any) is I will make no waiver claims and I will not sign any free agents just to flip them in trades. I won't sign a whole lot of free agents anyways, but if I do, it will be because I want that player on my team. Rule V picks will be allowed. I am playing in GM only mode, but with the GM allowed to set lineups. During games, I will be in charge of the lineup and substitutions; the AI manager will be in charge of everything else.

The league was created in 1975 and then simmed to the end of 2000 to get rid of all initially created players. I then added Portland and Montreal to the league and held an expansion drat. I did this twice, because the 1st time I ended up with too good of a team. At Opening Day 2001, the predictions thought I would win 85 games! So I redid the draft making the rules harder and now I have a sufficiently horrible team... I made a mistake and held the expansion draft before the Rule V Draft and I ended up losing 2 of my expansion picks! Oh, well. We'll roll with it.

Also, Montreal and Portland were allowed to participate in the June drafts of 1999 and 2000 just like Tampa Bay and Arizona were in 1996 and 1997. Both teams had to pick last in each round. Montreal 29th and Portland 30th. In 2001, we will also have to pick last, but whichever expansion team has the worse record on draft day will pick ahead of the other (that will be Montreal). For 2002 and beyond, we will pick wherever our record dictates.

I then reset all the markets and budgets that had altered over the 25 years of simming and released some players from their contracts to keep teams that lost budget space from being over-budget. Montreal and Portland's budgets and markets were set based on Tampa Bay's and Arizona's averages from 2001 to 2015, respectively. From here on, though, I will not control them and let them take their course.

As a rule, I play without scouts and ratings, but we are using them in this league, with scouting accuracy set to normal. My scout is not all that great, though, but I will be hiring the best I can when any become available. Also, I have never played with the DH, as I abhor the rule, but we are going to let the AL keep their apostasy and we'll keep the stupid wild cards and inter-league games as well and I will even use the DH in AL parks (gasp!). We'll even let the All-Star game decide home field for the Series.

Here are the Budgets and Markets for 2001:

(Team)        (Market)(Budget in millions)
Atlanta          5      140
Baltimore        6      150
Boston          11      260
Chicago (A)      7      180
Chicago (N)      8      190
Cincinnati       5      150
Cleveland        4      120
Colorado         5      140
Detroit         10      230
Houston          4      120
Kansas City      5      130
Los Angeles (A)  9      210
Los Angeles (N) 11      260
Miami            3       95
Milwaukee        5      140
Minnesota        5      140
Montreal         3       95
New York (A)    16      340
New York (N)     8      190
Oakland          4      110
Philadelphia     9      220
Pittsburgh       3      105
Portland         4      120
San Diego        4      120
San Francisco    8      200
Seattle          6      160
St. Louis        7      180
Texas            7      180
Toronto          6      160
Washington       6      150

Here are the Park Factors used:

Team            AVG_L AVG_R   2B    3B   HR_L  HR_R
Atlanta          .976  .980  .923  .908  .914  .951
Baltimore       1.017 1.010  .913  .688 1.252 1.068
Boston          1.047 1.030 1.270 1.038  .725  .980
Chicago (A)      .938 1.000  .893  .808 1.073 1.117
Chicago (N)     1.037  .980 1.002  .988  .983 1.206
Cincinnati       .977 1.000  .982  .778 1.281 1.157
Cleveland       1.027 1.010 1.102  .668 1.033  .970
Colorado        1.107 1.140 1.111 1.646 1.172 1.206
Detroit          .987 1.030  .963 1.556  .934  .931
Houston          .977 1.000  .963 1.357 1.162 1.098
Kansas City     1.007 1.030 1.111 1.357  .854  .853
Los Angeles (A) 1.007  .951  .893  .599 1.132 1.098
Los Angeles (N)  .967  .960  .973  .520 1.083  .980
Miami            .997 1.000 1.022 1.427  .657  .774
Milwaukee       1.037  .990  .982  .928 1.291 1.176
Minnesota       1.017 1.030 1.032 1.087  .904  .941
Montreal        1.007  .989 1.111 1.126  .953  .881
New York (A)    1.027  .980  .913  .649 1.281 1.215
New York (N)     .928  .960  .943  .818 1.053  .961
Oakland          .967 1.020 1.012 1.117  .805  .902
Philadelphia     .987  .960  .953  .858 1.132 1.294
Pittsburgh       .987 1.000  .953  .798  .934  .764
Portland        1.027 1.030 1.092 1.097  .914 1.078
San Diego        .967  .950  .874 1.008 1.003  .862
San Francisco    .997  .950  .943 1.656  .647  .774
Seattle          .976  .950  .913  .678  .993  .892
St. Louis       1.007 1.000 1.002 1.038  .884  .862
Texas           1.017 1.020  .943 1.247 1.053  .961
Toronto          .977 1.000 1.161  .988 1.073 1.176
Washington      1.007 1.050 1.052  .569 .825   .892

I don't believe these factors are 100% accurate and they do not account for the vagaries of OOTP. If I was doing a replay league, I would figure them all for myself, but since this is fictional and supposed to be just a 'for fun' league without serious aspirations to simulation accuracy, they will work fine for adding some authentic spice to the play.

Finally, I simmed to the start of the baseball year in 2001 (Jan. 26) and erased all the history and stats.

Next up: Meet the team!

[Questdog]

Portland Beavers Directory
Chairman of the Board - Aaron Lane 48 yrs. old from Portland, Oregon
President-General Manager - Medley Fikes 38 yrs. old from West Palm Beach, Florida
Vice President - J.D. Lancaster 50 yrs. old from Chicago, Illinois
Scouting Director - Carlos Romero 52 yrs. old from Columbia
Manager - Jesus Reyes 51 yrs. old from Puerto Rico
Bench Coach - Bill Anagnos 51 yrs. old from Phoenix, Arizona
Pitching Coach - Matt Ansted 48 yrs. old from Hurley, New Mexico
Hitting Coach - Norm Alcala 46 yrs. old from Stamford, Connecticut
Trainer - Kyle Reid 40 yrs. old from Little Rock, Arkansas

Park - Multnomah Park Seating Capacity - 39,600

Farm System:
Reno Aces of the Pacific Coast League (AAA)
Manager - Dan Ellsworth 50 yrs. old from Kearns, Utah
Pitching Coach - Franklin Beltran 42 yrs. old from Venezuela
Hitting Coach - Joe Ashford 49 yrs. old from Beaumont, Texas

Mobile BayBears of the Southern League (AA)
Manager - Justin Oakes 43 yrs. old from Fullerton, California
Pitching Coach - Dane Bodine 44 yrs. old from Morton, Texas
Hitting Coach - Adam Bennett 45 yrs. old from San Marcos, California

Visalia Rawhide of the California League (A+)
Manager - Joe Andric 46 yrs. old from Brooklyn, New York
Pitching Coach - Leon Bonilla 47 yrs. old from Cuba
Hitting Coach - Brad Ellison 40 yrs. old from Avocado Heights, California

Lexington Legends of the South Atlantic League (A)
Manager - Joey Arsenault 49 yrs. old from Brooklyn, New York
Pitching Coach - George Bowman 39 yrs. old from Circleville, Ohio
Hitting Coach - Jim Gantner 49 yrs. old from Fond du Lac, Wisconsin

Hillsboro Hops of the Northwest League (SA)
Manager - Tom Artim 45 yrs. old from Portage, Indiana
Pitching Coach - Juan Caballero 45 yrs. old from the Dominican Republic
Hitting Coach - Chase Hall 47 yrs. old from Greensboro, North Carolina

Billings Mustangs of the Pioneer League (R)
Manager - Jim Beck 49 yrs. old from Little Rock, Arkansas
Pitching Coach - Matt Champagne 44 yrs. old from Cross City, Florida
Hitting Coach - John DeMent 45 yrs. old from Indianapolis, Indiana

Arizona Beavers of the Arizona Rookie League (R)
Manager - J.J. Bugg 47 yrs. old from Gastonia, North Carolina
Pitching Coach - John Engelhaupt 47 yrs. old from San Francisco, California
Hitting Coach - Javon Williams 47 yrs. old from Austin, Texas

[Questdog]

Spring Training 2001

As I was touring our Spring Training facilities in Scottsdale, Arizona, I came upon our manager, Jesus Reyes, watching a group of players going through their drills with some of the coaches. Jesus is 53 years old and is from Puerto Rico. He was a left-handed pitcher in his playing days.

"Can you believe we really have us a bona fide major league team here, Jesus?" I asked rhetorically, but got an answer anyway.

"We got us a triple A team here that is going to have to play bona fide major league teams and will get their culos handed to them on a daily basis." He spit on the grass, even though he quit chewing tobacco years ago. "I don't know why I agreed to this job."

"Same reason as me. To be able to build something special from the ground up."

"Maybe. Or maybe I think I deserve punishment for all my past sins."

We brought almost 50 players into camp and after six weeks of training and evaluation we decided on the 25 that would open the season for us and would forever be known as original Beavers. Halfway through camp, our Vice-President, J.D. Lancaster, offered his prognosis of our season: "I think we have a real good shot at getting close to .500, provided we make it through the whole season without anyone getting injured. We have some pretty good players here, but no depth at all. A rash of injuries and we will drop from .500 to the bottom of the well in a heart beat." J.D. is 50 years old and hails from Chicago.

We will never know if the first part of his prediction had any truth in it, because we have already suffered a significant injury. The pitcher I tabbed for our Opening Day starter the minute I signed him has had to have elbow surgery and will miss most of the season. That was Phil Frankel, a 6' 11" beanpole of a right-hander with a wicked slider and a live fastball. Our starting center-fielder, Freddie Lester, also is out with a herniated disk in his back, but should return in a few weeks.

We have three goals for this season: 1) find ways to collect good ballplayers, 2) keep from losing 100 games and 3) finish with a better record than the Expos. If we accomplish goal #2, I think #3 will take care of itself.

Starting Pitchers
Carlos Peraza
29 yr. old Dominican right-hander, turns 30 in May. 6' 7" - 215 lbs. 88 MPH Fastball, decent curve. Throws 5 pitches, though none of them are outstanding, but he has good control. He had good results in the spring games, but gets the Opening Day nod because he has developed into one of the team leaders. He's very easy going, but one of the hardest workers in camp. He also has become popular with the fans already. We signed him to a minor league deal, so he will earn a minimum salary this season. Was our 26th pick in the Expansion Draft. Was originally signed by a scout in the Dominican Republic in 1987.

Chris Baker
35 yr. old lefty from Colorado Springs. 5' 9" - 200 lbs. 92 MPH fastball with a decent slider and also throws a splitter as his change. Has not been much of a team player in camp, but he is one of the few Beavers with real MLB experience and I think he feels superior to the rest of the fellas. But he was a hard worker and he is smart on the mound. He'll be earning $1.6 million. He looked pretty good in the spring games, but his control was not there. Was our 9th pick in the Expansion Draft. Was originally the 10th pick in the June Draft of 1987.

Matt Cusumano
28 yr. old right-hander from Richland, Washington. 6' 1" - 210 lbs. 94 MPH fastball with a devastating change and pretty good curve. Throws a cutter. Good control is not his strength. He has also emerged as one of the team leaders and he is a hard worker, but a bit of a prick, to be honest. Will make just a bit over minimum. He looked good all spring, but the results in the games were not impressive. We signed him as a free agent in December. Was originally the 123rd pick of the June Draft in 1993.

Brandon Carroll
30 yr. old right-hander from Las Vegas. 5' 11" - 200 lbs. 94 MPH fastball with a hard slider and a good straight change. Mediocre control. Was not very popular amongst the other players and often had to be berated for lack of effort, but looked very good in the games. Was signed to a minor league contract. Was our 30th pick in the Expansion Draft. Was originally the 31st pick of the June Draft in 1991.

Mike Woffinden
26 yr. old lefty from Mobile, Alabama. 6' 2" - 195 lbs. 92 MPH fastball. Throws a cutter with a excellent change and a decent curve. Solid control. He was the surprise of the staff as he was pitching in High A Ball last year and was not expected to make the major league team. He did not do much off the mound to help his cause either, but on the mound he was lights out to hitters all Spring. He was signed to a minor league contract. Was our 5th pick in the Expansion Draft. Was originally the 317th pick of the June draft in 1995. Currently rated as the #62 prospect in MLB by Baseball America.

Bullpen
Butch Frame
33 yr. old right-hander from Athens, Georgia. 6' 1"- 230 lbs. 94 MPH fastball with a decent slider and a forkball as his change. Pretty good control. He is smart and a decent guy, but is not interested in being a leader. He will be the long reliever and will get the first opportunity to break into the rotation should (when) one of the current 5 falters. Signed to a minor league deal. Was our 34th pick of the Expansion Draft. Was originally the 123rd pick of the June Draft in 1988.

J.J. Worden
28 yr. old lefty from New York City. 5' 11" - 195 lbs. 89 MPH fastball with an excellent slider. Control is okay, but not very good. The 2nd biggest surprise to make the staff. His slider was so nasty, especially to left-handers, that he made the team to be primarily a specialist to retire left-handed power bats. He has the stamina to pitch more innings though and will not be used exclusively in a specialist role. Not one of the leaders on the team (are lefties ever leaders?), but friendly and well liked and a very fierce competitor. Will make the minimum. Was our 21st pick of the Expansion Draft. Was originally the 101st pick of the June Draft in 1993.

Steve Castillo
28 yr. old lefty from the Dominican Republic. 6' 1" - 190 lbs. 96 MPH fastball with a great change (forkball). He is also working on a straight change, but it is not there yet. Has starter stuff, but throws with so much effort that we don't think he'd be able to last 7 innings. Was pretty much a loner all camp. Was signed to a $630K contract. We signed him as a free agent in January. Was originally signed by a scout in the Dominican Republic in 1989.

Rob Curran
31 yr. old lefty from Mesa, Arizona. 6' 3" - 210 lbs. 90 MPH fastball. He throws a 2-seamer and a 4-seamer and that's it, but he has good control of them. Has natural movement on both fastballs that moves in on lefties. He's a smart guy and very friendly, but not a hard worker. Probably why he has no change of pace pitch. He'll be making $1.7 million. Was our 19th pick in the Expansion Draft. Was originally the 255th pick of the June Draft in 1987.

Mike Zellers
28 yr. old right-hander from Ft. Lauderdale, Florida. 6' 4" - 230 lbs. 95 MPH fastball with an awesome changeup and an excellent slider. Good control. Could maybe be a pretty good starter, but does not want to leave the bullpen. A good guy, but not shy about looking out for payday. Will make $600K. We signed him as a free agent in December. Was originally the 43rd pick of the June Draft in 1993.

John Blankenheim
29 yr. old right-hander from Orangeburg, South Carolina. 6' 6" - 230 lbs. 95 MPH fastball. Throws a good cutter and a mediocre splitter. Also has a slider, but it is not impressive. Good control. Decent fellow who did not cause any problems this Spring, but did not stand out socially. Will make $1.1 million. Was out 24th pick in the Expansion Draft. Was originally the 54th pick of the June Draft in 1992.

Catchers
Manny Duran
25 yr. old Dominican who bats right-handed. 6' 0" - 195 lbs. Decent receiver with a strong arm. Has home run power and makes consistent contact. Plate discipline could be better and lack of foot speed keeps his average from being anything but average. Claims he can also play first base, but has yet to prove it. Not afraid to call out the pitchers in a game, even though most of them are older and have more experience. Penciled in the #6 slot in the batting order. Will make $2.7 million. We acquired him in February in a trade with Detroit. No decent catchers were available in the Expansion Draft and we could not sign one of the free agents.

Adrian Moreno
26 yr. old Dominican who bats right. 6' 0" - 185 lbs. Very good receiver with a decent arm. Not as good a hitter as Duran and only has average power. Also claims to be able to play first, but is just as delusional as Duran. Very smart and a natural born leader of men. The other players mostly seemed to respect him. He'll make $3.2 million and is the highest paid player on the team. We acquired him in February in a trade with the Angels.

Infielders
Jeff Moore
26 yr. old first basemen from Wildwood, Missouri, who bats from the left side. 6' 2" - 215 lbs. A decent fielder, but nothing special around the bag. Has a quick line drive bat, but lacks home run power and his plate discipline is wanting. Also not much of a runner. Has trouble with hitting left-handed pitching. Not a leader, but smart and likeable and a hard worker. He'll make the minimum salary this season. Was our 6th pick in the Expansion Draft. Was originally the 481st pick of the June Draft in 1996. Penciled in to bat 3rd vs. righties and 7th vs. lefties.

Ryan Mitchell
32 yr. old first baseman from Morristown, Tennessee, who bats right-handed. 6' 2" - 210 lbs. Used to be a shortstop and can play anywhere in the infield, but he never was a very good shortstop and his range is greatly diminished from what it used to be. Reputed to be a great guy and hard worker, but we have not known him very long. We only signed him as a free agent a few days ago when it 1) became apparent that Moore could not hit lefties and 2) we discovered that we had no one on the team who could bat right-handed AND play decent defense at first. He will make $1.1 million. He'll spell Moore against tough lefties.

Jason DeBoard
28 yr. old second baseman from North Wantagh, New York, who bats right-handed. 6' 0" - 190 lbs. Steady fielder with only average range. Can play on the left side of the infield, though his arm is below average for that duty. Can also play left field. A very tough out at the plate who will hit plenty of doubles, but hardly any home runs. Also it will take an act of congress to issue him a free pass. Only an average runner. He's a hard worker, but not quite smart enough to get all that work to really pay off, though he is far from stupid. He was signed to a minor league contract. He was our 27th pick of the Expansion draft. Originally he was the 184th pick of the June Draft in 1991. Penciled in to the #2 batting position.

Ralph Lamar
27 yr. old third baseman from Phoenix, Arizona, who bats right-handed. 6' 1" - 200 lbs. Has a cannon for an arm, but otherwise his defensive skills are a bit underwhelming. Whether that makes him overall a plus defender or not, we'll have to see. Has a little pop in his bat and makes consistent contact. He's a smart runner, but with no more than average speed. Hard worker who prefers to be left alone. Will make the minimum this season. Was our 2nd pick in the Expansion Draft. Originally was the 88th pick of the June Draft in 1994. Penciled in to the #5 batting slot.

Greg Roloff
29 yr. old third baseman from Duxbury, Massachusetts, who bats right-handed. Will turn 30 in May. 5' 11" - 190 lbs. Solid defense and a good batting average are what we can expect. Not many home runs or walks. Just seems to be one of the guys and doesn't stir the pot much, either for good or bad. Will earn $2.4 million this season. Was our 23rd pick in the Expansion Draft. Was originally the 93rd pick of the June Draft in 1993.

Pascual Galliano
25 yr. old shortstop from Venezuela who bats left-handed. 6' 4" - 195 lbs. Good defender, though range is less than stellar, though you'd expect that with his size. Can play 2nd or 3rd very well, too. Not much of a hitter and has no power, but has a bit of patience and does not strike out too much. Not as good a base runner as his plus speed would suggest. He is smart, but seems lazy and self-centered. He'll earn the minimum this year. Was our 14th pick in the Expansion Draft. Was originally signed out of Venezuela in 1992 at age 16. Penciled into the #8 hole.

Victor Ruelas
27 yr. old shortstop from Venezuela who bats right-handed. 6' 0" - 180 lbs. More range than Galliano and can play anywhere in the infield. Cannot hit at all. Good base runner and fast, but cannot use those skills much, because he will never get on base. Like Roloff, he is just one of the guys and does not cause trouble. Signed to a minor league contract. Was our 33rd pick in the Expansion Draft. Was originally signed out of Venezuela in 1990. Will platoon with Galliano at short and also bat 8th when in there.

Outfielders
Chris Miller
26 yr. old (27 in May) left fielder from Charlotte, North Carolina, who bats from the left side. 5' 10" - 180 lbs. Decent defender with a pretty good arm for a left fielder. Could play right, but I would rather have a better arm there. Best hitter on the team right now with only weakness that he could be a bit more selective. Has some home run pop in his bat, but not a lot. One of the hardest working players on the team and maybe also the most quiet player in the clubhouse. Will be on a minimum contract this year. Was our 4th pick in the Expansion Draft. Was originally the 205th pick in the June Draft in 1995. Slated to be the Cleanup Hitter, at least against righties. He is still recovering from a pulled rib cage muscle suffered in camp and will likely sit out the first few games of the season.

Jonathan Ramos
28 yr. old center fielder from Curacao who bats right-handed. 6' 3" - 210 lbs. Good range for a left fielder, but not what I would desire to have in center. But with Freddie Lester hurt, we have to go with what we got. Can really run, cannot really hit. Has a line drive stroke, but fails to make consistent contact. Seems like a good guy and teammate, so far. Will make $700K this year. Signed as a free agent in December. Was originally signed to a bonus contract as an International Amateur Free Agent in 1990. Will be our lead-off hitter, at least until Freddie gets fixed.

Victor Vargas
25 yr. old Dominican center fielder who bats left-handed. 6' 3" - 210 lbs. About the same defensively as Ramos, but a worse hitter. Has no power at all, but can really run. Outspoken in the clubhouse, but did not lead by example in camp. Not much of a hard worker. Was signed to a minor league contract. Was our 31st pick on the Expansion Draft. Was originally signed as a 16 yr. old in the Dominican Republic in 1992.

Steve Alvey
28 yr. old right fielder from Arlington, Virginia, who bats right-handed. 6' 3" - 220 lbs. Solid defender, but nothing special. Can run well and has some pop in his bat. Has the best hitting resume on the team, but did not hit well in camp. Will make the minimum wage this year. Was very popular with the other players this Spring and seems like a good clubhouse leader and hard worker. Was our 20th pick in the Expansion Draft. Was originally the 80th pick of the June Draft in 1993. Slotted for the #7 hole against right-handers and cleanup against lefties.

Jeff Young
28 yr. old right fielder from Altadena, California, who bats left-handed. 5' 9" - 220 lbs. Fireplug with a good arm, but not much range. Not fast, but still a good base runner. If not for Alvey's resume, he would have won the right fielders job in camp. Has some pop in his bat and makes consistent contact. Probably the hardest worker in camp on the team, but not interested in team politics. Was signed to a minor league contract. Was our 29th pick in the Expansion Draft. Was originally the 137th pick of the June Draft in 1993. Will be our #1 option as a left-handed pinch-hitter and if Alvey fails to start hitting, could find himself in the lineup.


Disabled List
Phil Frankel
28 yr. old right-handed pitcher from Pelham, Alabama. 6' 11" - 235 lbs. 95 MPH fastball and an excellent slider. Also throws a good forkball as a changeup. Has 2 other changeups that he dabbles with, but aren't as effective. A good guy, but a bit lazy. Will make $2.2 million to rehab his elbow. Will probably be unavailable until September, if then. Was signed as a free agent in January. Was originally the 367th pick in the June Draft in 1991. Was supposed to be the Opening Day starter.

Freddie Lester
27 yr. old (28 in 2 weeks) center fielder from New Kensington, Pennsylvania, who bats from the right side. 6' 2" - 195 lbs. Can really run down the balls in center, but has a very weak arm. Not much of a hitter, but should be decent enough, though he has no power. He is very smart and one of the leaders in the clubhouse. Will miss the first two weeks of the season because of a herniated disk in his back. Will make the minimum salary this season. Was our 16th pick in the Expansion Draft. Originally the 134th pick of the June Draft in 1992. Should be the starting center fielder and lead-off hitter when he returns.

Prospects
We don't have many and Baseball America ranks our minor league system as tied for last with the Padres. Mike Woffinden is the only top 100 prospect we have and he'll be on the Opening Day roster.

Rodolfo Matamoros
19 yr. old third baseman from Phoenix, Arizona, who bats right-handed. 6' 1" - 185 lbs. Ranked #120 by Baseball America. Has good range and a very strong arm, but very prone to making errors so far. Has good speed on the base paths. Our scouting director, Carlos Romero, does not think he will be much of a hitter and says he's lazy and does not really care about baseball. We drafted him in the 2000 June Draft with the 126th pick overall and gave him a bonus of $130K to sign. He is slated to play in the Arizona Rookie League this year.

Tommy Ford
24 yr. old right-handed pitcher from Enid, Oklahoma. 6' 0" - 180 lbs. Ranked #132 by Baseball America. 85 MPH fast ball and decent slider, but mainly throws a knuckleball. Not too smart, but a good guy and decent worker. Received him in the same trade with the Angels that netted us C Adrian Moreno. I was hoping he would make the Opening Day rotation, but he was not sharp in camp. He will begin the season in AAA at Reno.

That's it for ranked prospects. Here's a few others that we have some hopes for:

Chris Howard
23 yr. old left-hander from Milwaukee, Wisconsin. 6' 3" - 210 lbs. 98 MPH fastball, but it is pretty straight. Throws a splitter and a cutter as well. Control has also been an issue thus far. Not too bright, but a hard worker. He was officially the first Beaver ever when we drafted him with our first pick in the 1999 June Draft. Slated to pitch in the rotation for Lexington in the SALLY League (A).

Jack Clifton
29 yr. old left-hander from Valparaiso, Florida. 6' 3" - 210 lbs. 95 MPH fastball and good hard slider. Has 3 other pitches, the best of which is a forkball. Not too bright either, but a good worker in camp. Not really a prospect, but he was our first pick in the Expansion Draft and was supposed to be in our rotation, but his control was nonexistent in camp. He'll be in Reno in AAA until he can work things out.

Franklin Martinez
25 yr. old right-handed pitcher from Curacao. 6' 2" - 200 lbs. 95 MPH fastball will great movement. Also throws a slider, changeup and forkball, but none of them are outstanding. Not very smart and lazy, but has an opinion on everything. Was our 3rd pick in the Expansion Draft. Will start the season in the bullpen for Reno in AAA.

Ryan Ramsey
24 yr. old right-handed pitcher from Richardson, Texas. 5' 8" - 170 lbs. Not everything is bigger in Texas. 97 MPH straight fastball with 4 other mediocre pitches. A funny guy in camp, but well liked and respected. We signed him as a minor league free agent in December. Was originally the 48th pick of the June Draft in 1997. Slated to be in the rotation for Mobile in the Southern League (AA).

Steve Llinas
20 yr. old right-handed pitcher from Flint, Michigan. 6' 3" - 200 lbs. 94 MPH fastball and a good slider. Working on a changeup. Not very bright and pretty lazy. He was our second round pick in the 1999 June Draft. Slated to be in the bullpen for Billings in the Pioneer League (R).

Mike Vogt
24 yr. old right-handed pitcher from La Salle, Illinois. 6' 5" - 215 lbs. 93 MPH fastball and a good slider. Working on a changeup. A good fellow who was popular with the rest of the players. Was our 7th pick in the Expansion Draft. Originally the 98th pick of the June Draft in 1993. Slated for the bullpen in Reno (AAA).

Jared Kinnamon
23 yr. old left-handed pitcher from Santa Ana, California. 6' 8" - 225 lbs. 92 MPH fastball and excellent curve. Throws a cutter. As all of our pitchers, if they don't have one already, he is working on a changeup. A good guy, who could maybe use a little more killer instinct. Was our 11th pick in the Expansion Draft. Slated for the bullpen in Reno (AAA).

That's it!

See you on Opening Day!

[Questdog]

Sunday, April 1, 2001 MLB Opening Day

We don't open our season until tomorrow in San Diego.

Rk     Team                Payroll
1  New York Yankees      $301,314,000
2  Los Angeles Dodgers   $229,956,000
3  Detroit Tigers        $197,688,000
4  Boston Red Sox        $196,358,000
5  Los Angeles Angels    $174,436,000
6  Philadelphia Phillies $170,206,000
7  St. Louis Cardinals   $165,486,000
8  New York Mets         $164,728,000
9  San Francisco Giants  $154,541,000
10 Chicago Cubs          $149,466,000
11 Texas Rangers         $133,788,000
12 Oakland Athletics     $130,014,000
13 Kansas City Royals    $128,684,000
14 Chicago White Sox     $123,061,000
15 Seattle Mariners      $116,374,000
16 Milwaukee Brewers     $112,784,000
17 Atlanta Braves        $107,322,000
18 San Diego Padres      $105,026,000
19 Baltimore Orioles     $103,416,000
20 Colorado Rockies      $102,274,000
21 Cincinnati Reds       $101,370,000
22 Washington Nationals   $98,698,000
23 Houston Astros         $97,258,000
24 Toronto Blue Jays      $95,294,000
25 Miami Marlins          $91,590,000
26 Minnesota Twins        $83,096,000
27 Montreal Expos         $80,825,000
28 Pittsburgh Pirates     $77,136,000
29 Cleveland Indians      $73,974,000
30 Portland Beavers       $37,538,500

Don't be fooled by Montreal's payroll into thinking they have a decent team. In the expansion draft they were happy to take several big-name players with big-time contracts who's utility had expired several years ago. They suck.

Here's how Baseball America predicts the 2001 standings:

American League
East
1. NY Yankees
2. Boston
3. Toronto
4. Baltimore
5. Montreal

Central
1. Kansas City
2. White Sox*
3. Minnesota
4. Cleveland
5. Detroit

West
1. Seattle
2. Texas*
3. Oakland
4. Angels
5. Houston

* Wild Card

ALCS - Yankees over Seattle

AL MVP - Fernando Aranda, c, Houston
AL Cy Young - Angel Rogue, NY Yankees
AL ROY - Josh Woodward, 1b, Cleveland

National League
East
1. Philadelphia
2. Washington
3. NY Mets
4. Atlanta
5. Miami

Central
1. Milwaukee
2. Cubs*
3. St. Louis
4. Cincinnati
5. Pittsburgh

West
1. Dodgers
2. San Francisco*
3. Colorado
4. San Diego
5. Portland

* Wild Card

NLCS - Dodgers over Milwaukee

NL MVP - Phil Girard, 1b, San Francisco
NL Cy Young - Rico Argueta, Philadelphia
NL ROY - Eduardo Sanchez, ss, LA Dodgers

World Series - Yankees over the Dodgers

[Questdog]

Monday, April 2, 2001

Portland Beavers at
San Diego Padres

Carlos Peraza, Por (29 R 0-0 0.00) vs David Ochoa, SD (24 R 0-0 0.00)

I had goosebumps: the first ever game for the Portland Beavers! Will it be their first ever win?

The first pitch in the first game was a fastball right down the middle for a strike. The first batter in the first game, CF Jonathan Ramos, hit a 1-2 pitch to left field for a single! He then stole the first base ever! After 2B Jason DeBoard made the first out ever, 1B Jeff Moore singled to right to drive in the first run ever! 1 to 0, Beavers! 3B Ralph Lamar then struck out for the first K ever! LF Jeff Young followed with a single to right and then became the first ever pick-off victim!

In the top of the 3rd, DeBoard and Moore hit back-to-back 2-out doubles for the first time ever! 2 to 0, Beavers!

In the bottom of the 5th, with us still leading, 2 to 0, Padres 3B Javy Valdez reached on a single to left. He then became the first person to try to steal against the Beavers and C Manny Duran gunned him down!

In the top of the 6th, Moore led off with his 2nd double of the day and they walked Lamar intentionally. Young then grounded one to the second baseman who threw the ball away trying for the DP and the bases were loaded with nobody out for the first time ever! Duran then grounded into out first ever double-play! 5-2-3. But then we scored our first run ever via a wild pitch! 3 to 0, Beavers! RF Steve Alvey singled to right to score another run, 4 to 0, Beavers!

Ramos led off the top of the 7th by becoming our first ever beaning victim!

Meanwhile through all of this, Carlos Peraza was quietly getting outs. He entered the bottom of the 9th with 115 pitches thrown and no runs allowed. But RF Josh Nunez led off the inning with a blast over the center field wall and it was 4 to 1, Beavers. Good thing our bullpen was warming up before the inning even started. Enter John Blankenheim to hopefully blank them out. He walked the first batter he faced. Uh-oh....But then CF Danny Rausch hit a hard one on the ground right to DeBoard at second. 4-6-3 DP! The second one we turned today! Up stepped 1B Mark Cottle, who could be a trivia answer about who made the final out in the first ever Beavers win. But he walked on a full-count slider that missed. Up to bat came SS Eric Meade. Would you please be the answer to the trivia question? No, he would not. He hit a ground ball double down the first base line. Runners at 2nd and 3rd with 2 outs and the tying run comes to the plate in the person of PH William Kay. First pitch, ball one. Second pitch, ball two. 3rd pitch, ball three. 4th pitch, a swing and a grounder to SS Pascual Galliano who scooped it up and fired over to first to end the game! 4 to 1, Beavers!

Here's the newspaper clipping of the box score that I will save until the day I die (I had it enlarged and will have it framed and hang it on my office wall):

Oddity in the game: San Diego had 9 hits and each batter in the lineup had one.

Also, the San Diego Union-Tribune, the paper I cut the box score from, put that it was Tuesday, but that is a misprint. It was Monday.

P.S. The Expos lost their first game in 14 innings, 11 to 8, to the Astros, so we are a game ahead of them!

[Sizeman21]

Great first game of the season! Keep up the good work!

[Questdog]

Tuesday, April 3, 2001

Portland Beavers (1-0 1.000 tied for 1st place in the NL West) at
San Diego Padres (0-1 .000 1 GB tied for 3rd (last) placed in the NL West)

Chris Baker, Por (35 L 0-0 0.00) vs Jody Evans, SD (23 R 0-0 0.00)

CF Jonathan Ramos led off with a walk and then stole second and third and scored on 2B Jason DeBoard's ground out to 2nd. 1-0, Beavers! We're going to go undefeated this season! 1B Jeff Moore singled for his 4th straight hit to start the season! He's going to bat 1.000 this year!

Chris Baker retired the first 9 Padres in a row, but 2B Joe Mittler grounded a single past SS Pascual Galliano to lead off the 4th. Baker retired the next three in a row to keep the shutout going.

We were still up, 1 to 0, when San Diego got their second base runner of the game to lead off the bottom of the 6th. Baker walked SS Keith Walker. Padre manager Miguel Sanchez sent in a pinch-hitter to bunt the runner over, which he did, but I was sure glad to see Jody Evans out of the game. Mittler then singled to left and Walker moved up to 3rd, but held there. Mittler tried to steal 2nd and C Manny Duran fired a strike to nail him! Two outs! Baker then struck out 3B Cody Childress to end the inning!

In the top of the 8th, Jeff Moore hit a 1-out double. They walked 3B Ralph Lamar intentionally and LF Jeff Young hit a pop fly into shallow left for the 2nd out. But then C Manny Duran singled up the middle and Moore scored to put us up, 2 to 0!

The bottom of the 8th began with SS Pascual Galliano muffing a grounder. Walker grounded out, moving the runner to 2nd. PH Eric Meade flew out to center for the 2nd out. But then Mittler doubled down the right field line, scoring Walker. 2 to 1, Beavers. 3B Cody Childress grounded out to 2nd to end the inning and Chris Baker's day on the mound.

LHP Steve Castillo came in to pitch the bottom of the 9th for us as they had 2 lefties scheduled to lead off the inning. But they pinch-hit with right-hander Luis Lucio to lead off. Castillo walked him on 4 pitches. They let the next left-hander bat, their cleanup hitter, CF Danny Rausch. Castillo threw him 3 straight balls before getting a called strike. He got another called strike and Rausch fouled off a pitch before swinging and missing for strike three! 1 out! 1B Mark Cottle came up and he bats right-handed, but a lefty was scheduled after him so Castillo stayed in the game. Cottle hit a ground ball to Galliano at short who fed the ball to DeBoard at 2nd, who pivoted and fired to 1st for a double play! Game Over! 2 to 1, Beavers! The 2-0 1st place Beavers!

Chris Baker went 8 innings, allowed 1 unearned run, 4 hits, 1 walk and struck out 2. In his last start in Spring Training, he walked 6 in 4 innings.
Steve Castillo picked up his 1st save with a hitless 9th. He walked 1 and struck out 1.

CF John Ramos had a hit and a walk, stole 2 bases and scored a run. 1b Jeff Moore had 2 hits with a double and scored a run. LF Jeff Young had 3 hits with a double. C Manny Duran had 2 hits with an RBI and threw out the only runner to try a steal.

I am so happy I am shaking, but before everyone starts clamoring for the Beavers to start printing playoff tickets, I should point out that the Padres, according to Baseball America, are the second worst non-expansion team in all of baseball, slightly ahead of the Pirates.

Oddity in the Game: San Diego only had 4 hits, but 2B Joe Mittler had 3 of them.

I mentioned in an earlier dispatch that we had three goals this season as an organization. We came up with those in a meeting one day in January. But personally, I think we have a good shot at finishing ahead of the Padres in the West and that is what I am shooting for.

[Questdog]

Wednesday, April 4, 2001

Portland Beavers (2-0 1.000 tied for 1st place in the NL West) at
San Diego Padres (0-2 .000 1 GB tied for 3rd (last) place in the NL West)

Matt Cusumano, Por (28 R 0-0 0.00) vs Jonathan Kelly, SD (29 R 0-0 0.00)

Our cleanup hitter, LF Chris Miller is ready to play, so he'll be in there and the hot hitting Jeff Young will be on the bench.

After we went down 1-2-3 in the 1st, the Padres put their 1st 3 on base with a double by 3B Javy Valdez and back-to-back walks. Cleanup hitter RF Josh Nunez hit into a 4-6-3 DP and we were fortunate to escape with only 1 run scored. 1 to 0, Padres and the first time the Beavers are behind ever!

A lead-off home run by CF Danny Rausch in the bottom of the 2nd put us down, 2 to 0. I have a feeling Cusumano is not going to go 8 innings like his two predecessors.

In the top of the 3rd, SS Pascual Galliano took a 1-out walk, our first base runner of the game. After Cusumano bunted him over, CF Jonathan Ramos became the answer to the question, "Who hit the first ever home run for the Beavers?" He scorched a line drive over the left field wall to tie the game at 2! We were not done yet though. 2B Jason DeBoard followed with a single up the middle. After he stole 2nd, 1B Jeff Moore drew a walk. LF Chris Miller then drove one over he head of the center fielder for a double, scoring DeBoard. 3 to 2, Beavers! 3b Ralph Lamar came up and with 2 outs, knocked his first hit of the season, a 2-run ground ball single to left! 5 to 2, Beavers! C Manny Duran followed with a single to center and Lamar went to 3rd. A wild pitch scored him! 6 to 2, Beavers! RF Steve Alvey grounded out to short to end out biggest inning ever. 6 runs!

In the top of the 7th, Manny Duran hit a 2-run home run! 8 to 2, Beavers!

And that is how it ended. 3-0! Sweep of the mighty Padres!

Cusumano went 7 innings, allowed 5 hits, 2 runs, 1 home run, 5 walks and struck out 1.
LHP Rob Curran went 2 innings, allowed 3 hits and a walk and struck out no one.

We had 14 hits and made 1 error.

CF Jonathan Ramos hit a home run, drew a walk and had 2 RBIs. 2B Jason DeBoard had 2 hits, stole a base and scored a run. 1B Jeff Moore had a hit and a walk and scored 2 runs. LF Chris Miller had 3 hits with a double in his season debut. He scored a run and had an RBI. 3B Ralph Lamar had a hit, scored a run and had 2 RBIs. C Manny Duran had 3 hits with a home run and 2 RBIs. RF Steve Alvey had 2 hits with a double.

On to San Francisco to conquer the Giants!

3-0!!!

[Questdog]

Thursday, April 5, 2001

We are in San Francisco to begin a 4 game series against manager Sidney Arnold and his Giants. This will be a real test of our abilities, as Baseball America has the Giants tabbed as a wild card team for this season. They lost 2 of 3 in their first series in Milwaukee, but Baseball America has the Brewers ranked as the second best team in the National League behind the Dodgers. After the 1st series, the Giants are 6th in the National League in scoring with 4.3 runs per game (Portland is #4 with 4.7). They are 14th in runs allowed with 6.3 per game (Portland is #2 with 1.3 Miami has not allowed a run in their 1st 2 games).

Portland Beavers (3-0 1.000 tied for 1st place in the NL West) at
San Francisco Giants (1-2 .333 2 GB in 3rd place in the NL West)

Brandon Carroll, Por (30 R 0-0 0.00) vs Andy MacDonald, SF (26 R 0-0 0.00)

Lineups: Pos Name (Age Bats BA-OPS)
POR - 1: CF Jonathan Ramos (28 R .250-.900) 2: 2B Jason DeBoard (28 R .308-.692) 3: 1B Jeff Moore (26 L .545-1.434) 4: LF Chris Miller (26 L .600-1.400) 5: 3B Ralph Lamar (27 R .091-.322) 6: C Manny Duran (25 R .385-1.00 7: RF Steve Alvey (28 R .250-.641) 8: SS Pascual Galliano (25 L .200-.585)

SF - 1: RF Yugi Katagiri (30 S .286-.833) 2: SS Octavio Fernandez (27 R .250-.641) 3: 1B Phil Girard (26 L .333-.801) 4: 2B Paul Stackhouse (34 R .273-.788) 5: C Jesus Quispe (26 S .300-1.017) 6: LF Nick Steinman (34 R .000-.000) 7: CF Adam Blachman (26 L .250-.500) 8: 3B Javy Ramirez (37 L .111-.222)

Ramos led the game off with a double and with 1 out, Moore made a bid to plate the run, but LF Nick Steinman made a diving catch to rob him of a hit. But Chris Miller picked up the slack and drove one over the center fielder's head for a double. 1 to 0, Beavers! This baseball stuff is easy!

But the bottom of the inning was not so easy. Galliano made an error to load the bases with 2 outs and Brandon Carroll walked in a run to tie the game.

In the top of the 2nd though, our offense kept clicking. Manny Duran led off with a single and Steve Alvey doubled to left. Duran tried to score from 1st and was thrown out at the plate. NEVER make the first out at third or home! Alvey went to 3rd on the play at the plate and scored on Galliano's ground out. 2 to 1, Beavers!

In the bottom of the 3rd, the Giants tied the game back up on Adam Blachman's 2-out single.

In the bottom of the 4th, they took the lead on Paul Stackhouse's 2-run single. 4 to 2, Giants.

In the top of the 5th, we went down in order for the 3rd straight inning, Greg Roloff making the final out as a pinch-hitter for Brandon Carroll. Carroll had only allowed 4 runs, but his pitch count was already at 112!

LHP Steve Castillo came in to pitch the 5th and gave up a couple of singles and a walk and the Giants added 2 runs to their lead. 6 to 2, San Fran.

In the top of the 6th, we finally got back to hitting the ball. Ramos led off with a single and DeBoard doubled. Moore walked to load them up with nobody out. Chris Miller worked a walk for an RBI! 6 to 3, Giants. Lamar then singled to left to score 2 and chased MacDonald from the game. 6 to 5, Giants. RHP Nesty Sanchez came in and got 2 outs, but then Galliano singled to score another run. All tied at 6!

LHP J.J. Worden made his first appearance of the season for us in the bottom of the 6th and he sat them down 1-2-3! In the bottom of the 7th he gave up a double and a walk, but no harm was done.

RHP Mike Zellers made his season debut for us in the bottom of the 8th and walked the lead-off hitter, Quispe. With a lefty due up, LHP Rob Curran came in and got a GDP!

In the top of the 9th, we went down 1-2-3.

In the bottom of the 9th, John Blankenheim came in and gave up a double on a full count to Rob Donovan. We walked PH Dale Redmond and then Octavio Fernandez laid a bunt down in front of the plate. Duran pounced on it and fired to 3rd, but threw the ball into the left field corner and the runner scored to suddenly end the game and give the Beavers their first taste of defeat. I don't care for it much. 7 to 6, Giants.

Carroll went 4 innings, allowed 4 runs (3 earned), 8 hits, 3 walks and struck out 2.
LHP Steve Castillo went 1 inning, allowed 2 runs, 2 hits and a walk.
LHP J.J. Worden wen 2 innings, allowed a hit and walked 2.
RHP Mike Zellers faced 1 batter and walked him.
LHP Rob Curran faced 1 batter and got a GDP.
RHP Butch Frame went a third of an inning and allowed a hit.
RHP John Blankenheim did not retire a batter and allowed 1 unearned run, 1 hit and walked a batter intentionally. He gets tagged with the loss.

We had 9 hits and made 2 errors.

CF Jonathan Ramos had 2 hits with a double and scored 2 runs. 2b Jason DeBoard hit a double and scored a run. LF Chris Miller hit a double and drew 2 walks, scored a run and had 2 RBIs. 3B Ralph Lamar had 2 hits and 2 RBIs.RF Steve Alvey hit a double and scored a run. SS Pascual Galliano had a hit and 2 RBIs.

Editors Note: I totally screwed up this game and simmed it by mistake instead of playing it out. I tried to reload my previous save to fix that, but found out that I had forgotten to make one after the last game! Bummers! I know I would have gone 162-0 if I had played this one out! Maybe not, but I would not have used 6 relief pitchers, that's for sure......and C Manny Duran was supposed to have the day off, so I KNOW he would not have lost us the game.....

[Questdog]

Friday, April 6, 2001

Portland Beavers (3-1 .750 0.5 GB in 2nd place in the NL West) at
San Francisco Giants (2-2 .500 1.5 GB in 3rd place in the NL West)

Mike Woffinden, Por (26 L 0-0 0.00) vs Nate Flaig, SF (33 L 0-0 0.00)

Lineups: Pos Name (Age Bats BA-OPS)
POR - 1: CF Jonathan Ramos (28 R .294-.929) 2: 2B Jason DeBoard (28 R .278-.667) 3: 3B Ralph Lamar (27 R .200-.494) 4: RF Steve Alvey (28 R .250-.669) 5: LF Chris Miller (26 L .571-1.524) 6: 1B Ryan Mitchell (32 R .000-.000) 7: SS Victor Ruelas (27 R .000-.000) 8: C Adrian Moreno (26 R 1st Game)

SF - 1: RF Yugi Katagiri (30 S .294-.871) 2: SS Octavio Fernandez (27 R .267-.722) 3: 1B Phil Girard (26 L .294-.686) 4: 2B Paul Stackhouse (34 R .267-.753) 5: C Jesus Quispe (26 S .357-1.042) 6: LF Nick Steinman (34 R .000-.167) 7: CF Adam Blachman (26 L .294-.706) 8: 3B Javy Ramirez (37 L .167-.333)

In the top of the 3rd, we got a run on Ralph Lamar's SF, but in the bottom of the inning, San Fran got 2 on a home run by Paul Stackhouse that went 415 feet into the left field bleachers. 2 to 1, Giants.

In the top of the 5th, Ramos walked and stole 2nd and with 2 outs, Lamar tripled to tie the game at 2 apiece. Alvey struck out to end the inning.

Woffinden kept walking everyone and his mother, but managed to avoid injury, except for the home run by Stackhouse. Through 4 innings he had walked 6 without striking anyone out.

Katagiri led off the bottom of the 5th with a triple. Woffinden then got his first K on Fernandez, but Phil Girard doubled down the left field line to put the Giants back on top, 3 to 2. Up came Stackhouse again and Jesus Reyes decided to walk him intentionally. Quispe struck out. Steinman grounded one through the hole into left to score Girard. 4 to 2, Giants. Blachman singled past Ruelas at short to score another run. 5 to 2, Giants.

It stayed that way until the top of the 9th. Chris Miller led off with a walk against their closer, Ken Carter. Jeff Moore pinch-hit for Mitchell and hit one well, but within reach of Steinman in left. 1 out. Pascual Galliano pinch-hit for Ruelas and drew a walk. Moreno then singled to left, scoring Miller. 5 to 3, Giants. Greg Roloff pinch-hit for the pitcher and flared one into center, but Blachman made his 49th circus catch of the day for out #2. Ramos drew yet another walk and they were loaded for bear for DeBoard. He hit a sinking line drive into center and Blachman made a dive for it, but there would be no circus catch #50! He was late and the ball got past him. By the time he retrieved it, 3 runs had scored and DeBoard was on third with a triple! 6 to 5, Beavers! That chased Carter and RHP Matt Goodnight came in. HE should be the closer! What an awesome name for one! He's got the goods to be one, too. Well, no one told Ralph Lamar that and he hit Goodnight's first pitch off the top of the center field fence, just missing going over, for a double! 7 to 5, Beavers! Alvey finally let Goodnight say goodnight to someone and struck out to end the magnificent inning.

John Blankenheim came in to pitch the bottom of the 9th. Craig Geiger was the 1st batter. He grounded out to Galliano at short. 1 out. Octavio Fernandez up. He hit a 3-1 pitch into shallow right. Alvey charged and made a sliding catch for out #2! Atta boy Alvey! Now Phil Girard, who baseball America thinks will be the MVP this year. 2-2 pitch was hit to short and Galliano made the play! Beavers win, 7 to 5!

Woffinden went 6 innings, allowed 5 runs, 6 hits, 1 home run, 6 walks and struck out 2.
RHP Mike Zellers went 2 innings and only allowed 1 base runner on an error. He gets the win.
RHP John Blankenheim pitched the 9th for his 2nd save, setting them down 1-2-3.

We had 8 hits and made 1 error.

CF Jonathan Ramos did not have a hit, but walked 3 times, stole a base and scored 2 runs. 2B Jason DeBoard had 2 hits with the big 9th inning, 2-out, bases-loaded triple, scored a run and had 3 RBIs. 3B Ralph Lamar had 3 hits with a double and a triple and 3 RBIs.

4-1!!!

Our team ERA is 2.66 through 5 games, but in 44 innings, we have walked 25 and only struck out 11. That is not a harbinger of glad tidings to come.....And I would like to remind everyone that Baseball America picked us to lose 95 games. Enjoy this little spurt while it lasts.

[wpnads]

Looks to me like the teams you have played so far underestimated the Beavers. Hopefully they'll continue to do so. Looking good so far and here's to a successful maiden season for Portland. By the way, I was wondering if there's any seats available for the Beavers home opener. If so, send a couple my way! GO BEAVERS!!!

[Questdog]

Saturday, April 7, 2001

Portland Beavers (4-1 .800 0.5 GB in 2nd place in the NL West) at
San Francisco Giants (2-3 .400 2.5 GB in 3rd place in the NL West)

Carlos Peraza, Por (29 R 1-0 1.13) vs Alex Luna, SF (30 R 0-1 11.25)

Lineups: Pos Name (Age Bats BA-OPS)
POR - 1: CF Jonathan Ramos (28 R .263-.914) 2: 2B Jason DeBoard (28 R .304-.783) 3: 1B Jeff Moore (26 L .429-1.172) 4: LF Chris Miller (26 L .500-1.315) 5: 3B Ralph Lamar (27 R .316-.837 6: C Manny Duran (25 R .353-.882 7: RF Jeff Young (28 L .364-.818) 8: SS Pascual Galliano (25 L .214-.603)

SF - 1: RF Yugi Katagiri (30 S .300-.967) 2: SS Octavio Fernandez (27 R .200-.554) 3: 1B Phil Girard (26 L .318-.757) 4: 2B Paul Stackhouse (34 R .278-.937) 5: C Jesus Quispe (26 S .278-.825) 6: LF Nick Steinman (34 R .143-.543) 7: CF Adam Blachman (26 L .316-.802) 8: 3B Javy Ramirez (37 L .125-.250)

Chris Miller grounded a 2-out single to left to score Jason DeBoard in the top of the 1st. 1 to 0, Beavers!

The joy was short-lived today, though. In the bottom of the 1st, Katagiri bunted for a hit and Carlos Peraza plunked Fernandez. Girard then deposited a 1-1 pitch into the right field seats. 3 to 1, Giants. They weren't done. Peraza beaned another hitter and when opposing pitcher Alex Luna hit a bases-loaded single into to center to score 2 more and make it 6 to 1, Giants, the bullpen was phoned, but Katagiri grounded into a 4-6-3 DP to end the inning.

Jeff Moore led off our 4th with a home run. 6 to 2, Giants. Ralph Lamar doubled with 1 out and with 2 outs, Jeff Yong singled him home. 6 to 3, Giants.

In the 5th, Victor Vargas pinch-hit for Peraza to lead off the inning and doubled down the right field line. He stole third and scored on a ground out. 6 to 4, Giants.

They went on to club us and we

Lost - 10 to 7.

Peraza went 4 innings, allowed 6 runs, 5 hits, 1 home run, 3 walks and struck out no one. He beaned 3 batters.
RHP Butch Frame went 1 inning, walked a batter and struck one out.
LHP J.J. Worden went 2 innings, allowed a run, 3 hits, a walk and struck out no one.
LHP Rob Curran went 1 inning, allowed 3 runs, 3 hits, a walk and struck out no one.

We had 14 hits and no errors.

2B Jason DeBoard had 2 hits, scored 2 runs and had an RBI. 1B Jeff Moore had 4 hits with a double and a home run and scored twice. LF Chris Miller had 2 hits, scored a run and had an RBI. 3B Ralph Lamar hit a double and drew a walk and scored a run. C Manny Duran had a hit and a walk and 2 RBIs. RF Jeff Young had 2 hits and an RBI. Victor Vargas had a pinch-hit double, stole a base and scored a run.

Before the season started, I thought our pitching would be okay and that our offense would have trouble scoring runs. Right now, it looks like I got it backward.

[Questdog]

Sunday, April 8, 2001

Portland Beavers (4-2 .667 1.5 GB in 2nd place in the NL West) at
San Francisco Giants (3-3 .500 2.5 GB in 3rd place in the NL West)

Chris Baker, Por (35 L 1-0 0.00) vs Chris Long, SF (30 R 0-0 6.23)

Lineups: Pos Name (Age Bats BA-OPS)
POR - 1: CF Victor Vargas (25 L 1.000-3.000) 2: 2B Jason DeBoard (28 R .321-.786) 3: 1B Jeff Moore (26 L .526-1.1486) 4: LF Chris Miller (26 L .467-1.156) 5: 3B Ralph Lamar (27 R .304-.849 6: C Manny Duran (25 R .333-.840 7: RF Steve Alvey (28 R .182-.490) 8: SS Pascual Galliano (25 L .222-.586)

SF - 1: RF Yugi Katagiri (30 S .360-1.088) 2: SS Octavio Fernandez (27 R .208-.613) 3: 1B Phil Girard (26 L .333-.913) 4: 2B Paul Stackhouse (34 R .238-.861) 5: LF Nick Steinman (34 R .182-.539) 6: CF Adam Blachman (26 L .348-.878) 7: C Dale Redmond (30 R .000-.667) 8: 3B Javy Ramirez (37 L .105-.255)

The Giants scored a run in the 1st on a double by Katagiri and a passed ball by Manny Duran. 1 to 0, Giants.

In the 2nd, Ralph Lamar hit a 1-out single and stole second. He went to 3rd on a ground out and scored on a 2-out error by Ramirez at 3rd. 1 to 1.

Katagiri hit another double in the bottom of the 2nd and the Giants were back on top, 3 to 1.

In the top of the 3rd, Victor Vargas hit a 1-out triple and Jason DeBoard singled. 3 to 2, Giants.

In the top of the 6th with 1 out, Jeff Moore and Chris Miller hit back-to-back singles, but Lamar grounded into a 6-4-3 DP.

After Baker gave up a 1-out hit in the bottom of the 7th to Katagiri, we pulled our first double-switch ever! Mike Zellers came in to pitch and Jeff Young went into right. The first batter Zellers faced, PH Rob Donovan, singled to left. But he got their #3 and #4 hitter, Girard and Stackhouse, to fly out and ground out to end the inning.

Jeff Young led off the top of the 8th with a double down the right field line. That chased Long and in came RHP Matt Goodnight for the 3rd straight day. We score a couple of runs off him yesterday. But we went down in order today.

In the top of the 9th, their closer, Ken Carter, came on. We scored 5 runs off him on Friday to win the game. But we went down, 1-2-3 today.

Lost - 3 to 2.

Baker went 6.1 innings, allowed 3 runs(2 earned), 8 hits, 3 walks and struck out 1.
RHP Mike Zellers went 1.2 innings, allowed 1 hit and struck out 1.

We had 7 hits and no errors.

CF Victor Vargas hit a triple, drew a walk and scored a run. SS Pascual Galliano hit a double, but was caught stealing 3rd. Substitute RF Jeff Young hit a double in his only plate appearance.

For the Giants, RF Yugo Katagiri had 3 hits with 2 doubles, scored a run and had an RBI.

We have tomorrow off and then Tuesday is our Home Opener! First MLB game ever in Portland!

[Questdog]

April 9, 2001

Monday Morning Report

AL Player of the Week - Ronnie Crosby, ss, Boston (29 R .458-1.340) Had 11 hits, 2 2B, 3 HR, 4 R and 7 RBI in 6 G
NL Player of the Week - Jose Salazar, 1b, Philadelphia (25 L .529-1.737) Had 9 hits, 1 2B, 3 HR, 8 R and 8 RBI in 5 G

April 1: On Opening Day, RHP Angel Rogue of the Yankees shut out the Blue Jays at home on 5 hits, 2 walks and 8 K. The Yankees won, 13 to 0.
April 2: 2B Jorge Mejia of the Dodgers had 5 hits at Colorado. 5 1B, 2 R, 2 RBI. The Dodgers won, 11 to 5.
April 4: SS Joel Villarreal of the Dodgers went 4 for 5 with 2 HR, 3 R and 6 RBI at Colorado. The Dodgers won, 10 to 3.
April 8: The Yankees lost their catcher, Shaun Swale, for the season. Torn PCL. The 34-yr.-old backstop was ranked the #2 catcher in the AL by Baseball America.

Random Fact of the Week: The Portland Beavers pitching staff is last in all of baseball with 14 strikeouts, almost half the total of the next worse team, the Boston Red Sox (26).

[Questdog]

Tuesday, April 10, 2001 Home Opener

It's Standing Room Only for the first ever Major League Baseball game in Portland, Oregon! Manager Ethan Guarino has his Rockies in town to begin a 3 game series and christen Multnomah Park. After the first week of play, the Rockies are 7th in scoring with 4.4 runs per game (Portland is tied for #4 with 5.1). Having opened at home, they are predictably 15th (last) in runs allowed with 7.3 per game (Portland is tied for #8 with 4.1). They were dismantled in 3 games by the Dodgers in their opening series and then lost 3 of 4 to the Cubs, all at Coors Field. Baseball America predicted them to finish 3rd in the NL West and to be over .500. Hopefully, they will not straighten themselves out until they leave town.

Colorado Rockies (1-6 .143 4.5 GB tied for 4th (last) place in the NL West) at
Portland Beavers (4-3 .571 1.5 GB tied for 2nd place in the NL West)

Jason Norris, Col (31 R 0-0 7.71) vs Matt Cusumano, Por (30 R 1-0 2.57)

Lineups: Pos Name (Age Bats BA-OPS)
COL - 1: CF Raul Sanchez (26 L .222-.825) 2: 3B Teddy Nattrass (34 R .333-.807) 3: LF Matt Friedrich (25 S .344-1.165) 4: RF Josh Hess (25 L .174-.718) 5: 1B Carlos Espino (29 R .214-.588) 6: C Jose Sandoval (27 L .278-.641) 7: 2B Melvin Mendez (36 L .625-1.375) 8: SS Rey Castillo (26 R .000-.125)

POR - 1: CF Jonathan Ramos (28 R .208-.742) 2: 2B Jason DeBoard (28 R .313-.750) 3: 1B Jeff Moore (26 L .478-1.321) 4: LF Chris Miller (26 L .421-1.026) 5: 3B Greg Roloff (29 R .250-.500) 6: C Manny Duran (25 R .280-.708) 7: RF Steve Alvey (28 R .160-.432) 8: SS Pascual Galliano (25 L .238-.646)

In the top of the 1st, Matt Friedrich hit a 1-out single, but Pascual Galliano made a great play on a grounder off the bat of Josh Hess to end the inning.

In the bottom of the 1st, the first Beaver batter ever in Multnomah Park, Jonathan Ramos, hit one up and over the left field fence for a home run! 1 to 0, Beavers!

In the bottom of the 2nd, Manny Duran lined a 1-out single to center. Steve Alvey followed with a blast to straight away center for a home run! 423 feet! 3 to 0, Beavers!

In the top of the 8th, we were up, 4 to 1. Cusumano gave up a lead-off double to Raul Sanchez and walked Teddy Nattrass. Call to the Bullpen: LHP Steve Castillo. He struck out Friedrich and Josh Hess! Carlos Espino then flew out to center. Fires doused!

In the top of the 9th, Jose Sandoval led off with a triple to the gap in right center. Melvin Mendez drew a walk. Call to the Bullpen: RHP Mike Zellers. PH Steve Stapleton singled to center, scoring a run. 4 to 2, Beavers. Call to the Bullpen: LHP Rob Curran. PH Bill Zane launched one to left for a 3-run home run. 5 to 4, Rockies. Carlos Romero's scouting report told me that Zane was a switch hitter, but could not hit lefties to save his life. Curran managed to get through the rest of the inning unscathed, though not untouched.

In the bottom of the 9th, Guarino sent in his closer, LHP Alberto Malainho. So far, in the early going, he has been lit up pretty brightly. In 5 games he has 2 losses and no saves. Only 2.1 IP and he's given up 5 hits and a home run and 5 walks with only 1 K. Chris Miller struck out. Greg Roloff grounded out to 3rd. Manny Duran flew out to left.

Lost - 5 to 4.

Cusumano went 7+ innings, allowed 1 runs, 6 hits, 1 walk and struck out 3.
LHP Steve Castillo went 1+ innings, allowed 2 runs, 1 hit, 1 walk and struck out 2.
RHP Mike Zellers faced 1 batter and gave up a run and a hit.
LHP Rob Curran went 1 inning, allowed 1 run, 3 hits, 1 home run and struck out 1.

We had 8 hits and 1 error.

CF Jonathan Ramos hit his 2nd home run of the season, drew a walk and was caught stealing. LF Chris Miller hit a double. 3B Greg Roloff hit a double and scored a run. RF Steve Alvey had 2 hits with a home run and 3 RBIs. SS Pascual Galliano hit a double.

That was wicked awful....Once again I have been backwards in my assessment of our team. I thought our bullpen would be stronger than our rotation.....I also will not be studying Romero's scouting reports so closely anymore.....

Minor League Report:
Down at Reno in the Pacific Coast League (AAA), RHP Tommy Ford pitched 8.2 innings of shutout ball against El Paso, raising his record to 2-0. He allowed 7 hits, 2 walks and struck out 5. In his first start, he went 6.1 innings and allowed only 1 run. He will likely be joining the Beavers as soon as we make up our minds about who we mistakenly allowed to pitch in the major leagues.

[Questdog]

Wednesday, April 11, 2001

Tough to sleep after yesterday's game....

Colorado Rockies (2-6 .250 4.5 GB tied for 4th (last) place in the NL West) at
Portland Beavers (4-4 .500 1.5 GB in 3rd place in the NL West)

R.J. Huffmon, Col (36 L 1-0 1.50) vs Brandon Carroll, Por (30 R 0-0 3.86)

Lineups: Pos Name (Age Bats BA-OPS)
COL - 1: CF Raul Sanchez (26 L .219-.793) 2: 3B Teddy Nattrass (34 R .333-.862) 3: LF Matt Friedrich (25 S .351-1.116) 4: RF Josh Hess (25 L .179-.662) 5: 1B Carlos Espino (29 R .212-.560) 6: C Jose Sandoval (27 L .273-.710) 7: 2B Melvin Mendez (36 L .545-1.220) 8: SS Miguel Taveras (28 R .227-.591)

POR - 1: CF Jonathan Ramos (28 R .222-.864) 2: 2B Jason DeBoard (28 R .278-.667) 3: 3B Ralph Lamar (27 R .296-.799) 4: RF Steve Alvey (28 R .214-.634) 5: LF Chris Miller (26 L .391-.983) 6: C Manny Duran (25 R .276-.679) 7: 1B Jeff Moore (26 L .444-1.204) 8: SS Victor Ruelas (27 R .000-.250)

In the bottom of the 2nd, a lead-off double by Steve Alvey and back-to-back singles by Chris Miller and Manny Duran gave us the first run. 1 to 0, Beavers! Jeff Moore grounded in to a 4-6-3 DP, but Victor Ruelas doubled down the right field line to score another one. 2 to 0, Beavers! P Brandon Carroll then singled up the middle and Ruelas ran home! 3 to 0, Beavers!

The base-running must have gotten Carroll out of sync, because the first batter of the top of the 3rd, #8 hitter Miguel Taveras, cranked one out to center. 429 feet. 3 to 1, Portland.

In the bottom of the 3rd, we led off with three straight singles to load the bases. Jason DeBoard, Ralph Lamar and Steve Alvey the perpetrators. Chris Miller then flew out to shallow center and DeBoard tagged up and headed home. It looked like he was out, but the call was safe! 4 to 1, Beavers! Editor's Note: We allowed our MLB a lot of everything I hate about toady's MLB - the DH, wild cards, inter-league play, etc. - but I am NOT giving them Replay, dammit! Manny Duran popped out to 2nd, but Jeff Moore, who, Carlos Romero told me, can't hit left-handers, singled to left to plate Lamar! 5 to 1, Beavers! That chased Huffmon. In came RHP Ben Canter. I let Ruelas hit because he is a slightly better fielder than SS Pascual Galliano. He struck out.

In the top of the 4th, with 1 out, Jason Hess blasted one to right that the tracker said went 492 feet! 5 to 2, Portland. Carlos Espino walked and Jose Sandoval doubled off the fence in right to put runners at 2nd and 3rd. Bullpen was notified to start warming them up. Melvin Mendez flew out to center and Ramos' throw was not in time to nail Espino. 5 to 3, Portland. 2 outs. Taveras grounded out to short to end the inning and sit the relievers down.

In the bottom of the 4th, we went down in order, as did the Rockies in the top of the 5th.

In the bottom of the 5th, Lamar singled and stole 2nd and, with 2 outs, Duran singled to center to knock in the run. 6 to 3, Beavers! Jeff Moore doubled to put runners at 2nd and 3rd and Guarino ordered the free pass for Ruelas to load them up for P Brandon Carroll. He lined one up the middle for his 2nd hit of the day! Only 1 run could score. 7 to 3, Beavers!

In the 8th, we turned the ball over to our bullpen and crossed our fingers. LHP J.J. Worden got the call. He got one out and then Ratsass Nattrass singled to right and Matt Friedrich deposited another souvenir into the left field bleachers. 7 to 5, Portland. Hess grounded one down to third and Lamar threw the ball in the dirt for an error. Call to the Bullpen: RHP John Blankenheim. Espino lined out to short. 2 outs. Sandoval flew out to left.

In the top of the 9th, Melvin Mendez led off with a ground ball single to right. PH David Hoecherl was sent up. He was 8 for 13 so far. He flew out to deep center. PH Steve Stapleton came up. He was 1 for 10 so far, but that "1" came yesterday in the ill-fated 9th inning to plate a run. He singled to right and Mendez headed for third. Alvey's throw was late. 1st and 3rd, 1 out. Tying run on base. Call to the Bullpen: LHP Steve Castillo. Raul Sanchez popped one a mile high, but on the infield, for out #2. Teddy Nattrass up. Right-hander, but the lefty stays in because of the on-deck batters. Ball Four and the bases were loaded for switch-hitter Matt Friedrich, their #3 hitter, who already had a pair of hits, including his league-leading 6th home run. The thought crossed my mind to walk him and force in a run to get to the lefty-swinging Hess.....But Friedrich never lifted the bat off his shoulder as he watched a ball and 3 strikes go by!

Won - 7 to 5.

Carroll (W 1-0) went 7 innings, allowed 3 runs, 6 hits, 2 home runs, 2 walks and struck out 4 (a new team record!).
LHP J.J. Worden went 0.1 inning, allowed 2 runs, 2 hits and 1 home run.
RHP John Blankenheim went 1 inning and allowed 2 hits.
LHP Steve Castillo (SV 2) 0.2 inning, allowed 1 walk and struck out 1.

We had 16 hits (new team record!) and made 1 error.

2B Jason DeBoard had 3 hits with a double and scored a run. 3B Ralph Lamar had 2 hits, stole a base and scored 2 runs. RF Steve Alvey had 2 hits with a double and a walk and scored a run. LF Chris Miller had 2 hits, scored a run and had an RBI. C Manny Duran had 2 hits and a walk, score a run and had 2 RBIs. 1B Jeff Moore had 2 hits with a double and an RBI. P Brandon Carroll had 2 hits and 2 RBIs.

[Questdog]

Thursday, April 12, 2001

Tough to sleep after yesterday's game....

If Woffinden has a bad game, we know who is headed to Reno to make room for Tommy Ford. Everyone else in the rotation has had a least one good start in their first two tries. He only went 2.1 innings in his first one.

Colorado Rockies (2-7 .222 4 GB in 5th (last) place in the NL West) at
Portland Beavers (5-4 .556 1 GB in 3rd place in the NL West)

Felix Izaguirre, Col (36 L 0-0 4.15) vs Mike Woffinden, Por (26 L 0-0 7.71)

Lineups: Pos Name (Age Bats BA-OPS)
COL - 1: CF Raul Sanchez (26 L .189-.689) 2: 3B Teddy Nattrass (34 R .324-.837) 3: LF Matt Friedrich (25 S .357-1.149) 4: RF Josh Hess (25 L .219-.796) 5: 1B Carlos Espino (29 R .229-.622) 6: C Jose Sandoval (27 L .269-.718) 7: 2B Melvin Mendez (36 L .500-1.071) 8: SS Miguel Taveras (28 R .240-.720)

POR - 1: CF Jonathan Ramos (28 R .188-.740) 2: 2B Jason DeBoard (28 R .317-.756) 3: 3B Ralph Lamar (27 R .313-.799) 4: RF Steve Alvey (28 R .250-.732) 5: LF Chris Miller (26 L .423-1.005) 6: C Manny Duran (25 R .313-.759) 7: 1B Jeff Moore (26 L .452-1.210) 8: SS Victor Ruelas (27 R .167-.708)

In the 1st inning, with 1 out and 2 runners on base, Jonathan Ramos made a leaping catch at the wall to save runs.

In the bottom of the 2nd, Steve Alvey led us off with a double off the left center wall. He went to 3rd on a fly to center and scored on a ground out. 1 to 0, Beavers.

Woffinden was a little shaky in the early innings, but managed to get out of trouble whenever it reared its head.

Meanwhile, Izaguirre was mowing us down. We did not get our second base runner until Alvey came up again and walked. We did not get our 2nd hit until there was 1 out in the bottom of the 6th when Ramos grounded one up the middle.

When Woffinden gave up a 1-out single to P Izaguirre in the top of the 7th, the bullpen got stirring. With 2 outs, Nattrass doubled to center to tie the game. Call to the Bullpen: LHP Rob Curran. Unfortunately, LHP Steve Castillo, who struck out Friedrich to end the game yesterday was a little tired and we had placed him at the bottom of the list of relievers for today. Curran gave up a home run the last time he was brought in to face a switch-hitter. This time he did not. Only a double off the left field wall. 2 to 1, Rockies. Hess, the lefty-swinger, followed and he DID hit a home run to left. 4 to 1, Rockies. Espino grounded a hard one down to third that Lamar turned into the final out of another dreadful inning by our bullpen.

Lost - 6 to 1.

Woffinden (L 0-1) went 6.2 innings, allowed 2 runs, 6 hits, 3 walks and struck out 3.
LHP Rob Curran went 1.1 inning, allowed 2 runs, 2 hits, 1 home run and a walk.
RHP Mike Zellers went 1 inning, allowed 2 runs, 3 hits and struck out 1.

In 8 innings, Aguirre gave us 1 run on 3 hits and 3 walks and struck out 1.

We had 4 hits and made 1 error.

RF Steve Alvey hit a double and walked twice and scored a run. C Manny Duran hit a double and had an RBI.

For the Rockies, 3B Teddy Nattrass had 3 hits with 2 doubles and a walk, scored 2 runs and had 2 RBIs. LF Matt Friedrich had 3 hits with a double and a walk, stole a base, scored a run and had an RBI. RF Josh Hess hit a double and his 4th home run of the season and had 3 RBIs. PH Steve Stapleton had his 3rd straight pinch-hit single against us.

I think we will have to reconsider our decision to make Rob Curran a member of our bullpen in light of recent events.

[Questdog]

Friday, April 13, 2001

LHP Rob Curran was out of options, so he was waived and designated for assignment. If he clears waivers, we'll send him to Reno. We called up RHP Mike Vogt. In 5 innings for Reno he had allowed 1 hit and 1 walk and struck out 3. He's 24.

Manager Sidney Arnold has his Giants in town to begin a 3-game series today. We are 1-3 against them on the season, losing the 4-game series to them last week in San Francisco. The Giants are coming off a series in which they took 2 of 3 from the mighty Dodgers in Los Angeles. They are tied for 4th in the NL in runs scored with 4.7 per game (Portland is #3 with 4.8). They are 12th in runs allowed with 4.6 per game (Portland is tied for 10th with 4.5).

San Francisco Giants (6-4 .600 0.5 GB in 2nd place in the NL West) at
Portland Beavers (5-5 .500 1.5 GB in 3rd place in the NL West)

Chris Long, SF (30 R 1-0 3.18 11.1-3.2-7.1 H/9-BB/9-K/9) vs Carlos Peraza, Por (29 R 1-1 5.25 9.8-2.3-2.3)

We are 0-1 against Long this season. We got 7 hits and lost, 3 to 2, in San Francisco on April 8th the first time we faced him.

Lineups: Pos Name (Age Bats BA-OPS)
SF - 1: RF Yugi Katagiri (30 S .333-.939) 2: CF Adam Blachman (26 L .289-.710) 3: 2B Paul Stackhouse (34 R .171-.668) 4: 1B Phil Girard (26 L .262-.740) 5: LF Nick Steinman (34 R .250-.711) 6: C Jesus Quispe (26 S .194-.647) 7: 3B Javy Ramirez (37 L .154-.395) 8: SS Octavio Fernandez (27 R .189-.556)

POR - 1: CF Jonathan Ramos (28 R .194-.714) 2: 2B Pascual Galliano (25 L .250-.690) 3: 1B Jeff Moore (26 L .400-1.076) 4: LF Chris Miller (26 L .400-.941) 5: 3B Ralph Lamar (27 R .278-.714) 6: C Adrian Moreno (26 R .250-.500) 7: RF Steve Alvey (28 R .265-.813) 8: SS Victor Ruelas (27 R .125-.550)

The first two San Francisco hitters each single. Stackhouse strikes out. Phil Girard then singles to left and Katagiri tries to score from 2nd, but Chris Miller throws him out at the plate! Steinman flies out to right and we have escaped unscathed!

In the top of the 3rd, P Long singles to right to lead off the inning. Peraza then issues back-to-back walks to load the bases with nobody out. Can I send my Opening Day starter to AAA two weeks into the season? Stackhouse struts up to the plate, even though he struck out his first time up. He flies out to right this time and the runners hold. Girard, their best hitter, is up and Peraza walks him to force in a run. 1 to 0, Giants. Bullpen is put on alert status. Steinman strikes out. Quispe strikes out! Bullpen is told to stand down.

Steve Alvey, as he did yesterday, becomes our first base runner when he singles through the shortstop's legs to lead off the bottom of the 3rd. Maybe he should bat in the #1 hole. He's fast enough for it.

Galliano leads of the bottom of the 4th with a ground ball into right field. Jeff Moore strikes out. Chris Miller then singles into right and Galliano heads to 3rd and Katagiri's throw is true, but late! Miller moves up to 2nd on the throw. Ralph Lamar flies out to deep right field and Galliano tags up and trots home to tie the score a 1 apiece.

In the bottom of the 7th, Victor Vargas leads off, pinch-hitting for C Moreno. He singles up the middle and then steals 2nd. They walk Alvey intentionally and Jeff Young comes in to pinch-hit for Ruelas. He surprises everyone with a perfect bunt down the 3rd base line and beats Long's throw for a base hit! Bases loaded and nobody out! Jason DeBoard is sent in to pinch-hit for P Peraza. He raps a 2-2 pitch into left, scoring a run! 2 to 1, Beavers! Ramos swings at the first pitch he sees and hits one to the warning track in right center where Katagiri catches it, but can do nothing about Alvey tagging at third and scoring. 3 to 1, Beavers! Pascual Galliano then knocks one in to the gap in right center for a triple, scoring 2 more! 5 to 1, Beavers! That finally chases Long. LHP Andy Lae in to face the lefty Moore. On a 1-2 pitch, Galliano breaks for home! The pitch beats him to the plate, but a terrific collision occurs and the ball pops out of Quispe's mitt. Safe on the steal of home!! 6 to 1, Beavers!

Top of the 8th and LHP J.J. Worden is sent in with the orders to retire one batter, Phil Girard. Strikes him out! Call to the Bullpen: Newest Beaver, RHP Mike Vogt. Steinman to bat. Strike out! Quispe grounds out to short.

Won - 6 to 1.

Peraza (W 2-1) went 7 innings, allowed 1 run, 5 hits, 4 walks and struck out 5 (new team record!).
LHP J.J. Worden faced 1 batter and struck him out.
RHP Mike Vogt went 1.2 innings, allowed 1 walk and struck out 3.

We had 10 hits (5 in the 7th inning) and made 1 error.

SS Pascual Galliano had 2 hits with a triple, stole home (!!), scored 2 runs and had 2 RBIs. He is officially my new favorite Beaver! I'm having a t-shirt made. LF Chris Miller had 3 hits and stole a base. PH Victor Vargas had a hit, stole a base and scored a run. He was scheduled to go to Reno (AAA) when Freddie Lester returns tomorrow, but he is 3 for 5 with a double and a triple and a walk, has stolen 2 bases and scored 3 runs. I'll have to reconsider that. PH/LF Jeff Young had a hit and scored a run. PH/2B Jason DeBoard had 2 hits with a double, scored a run and had an RBI.

And I think we may have found our ace reliever in Mike Vogt! At least one who does not outright suck!

[Questdog]

Saturday, April 14, 2001

CF Freddie Lester is in the lineup today after being activated from the Disabled List. CF Victor Vargas has to be the one to go to Reno, even though he is batting .600 and Jonathan Ramos is hitting .179, though he leads the team in home runs with 2. Ramos is out of options and I am fairly confident that he would get claimed. Vargas still has 3 options left.

San Francisco Giants (6-5 .545 0.5 GB tied for 2nd place in the NL West) at
Portland Beavers (6-5 .545 0.5 GB tied for 2nd place in the NL West)

Sam Jackson, SF (30 R 0-0 0.00 3.9-3.9-3.9 H/9-BB/9-K/9) vs Chris Baker, Por (35 L 1-1 1.26 7.5-2.5-1.9)

This will be Jackson's first start of the season. He has pitched 2.1 innings in relief and has a save.

Lineups: Pos Name (Age Bats BA-OPS)
SF - 1: RF Yugo Katagiri (30 S .333-.933) 2: SS Octavio Fernandez (27 R .171-.505) 3: 1B Phil Girard (26 L .267-.749) 4: 2B Paul Stackhouse (34 R .154-.606) 5: CF Adam Blachman (26 L .293-.721) 6: LF Nick Steinman (34 R .214-.621) 7: C Jesus Quispe (26 S .176-.611) 8: 3B Javy Ramirez (37 L .172-.445)

POR - 1: CF Freddie Lester (28 R 1st game) 2: 2B Jason DeBoard (28 R .326-.797) 3: 1B Jeff Moore (26 L .359-.969) 4: LF Chris Miller (26 L .441-1.003) 5: 3B Ralph Lamar (27 R .256-.654) 6: C Manny Duran (25 R .306-.776) 7: RF Steve Alvey (28 R .270-.817) 8: SS Pascual Galliano (25 L .286-.804)

Bottom of the 2nd: Steve Alvey hits a solo home run to left to get the scoring started. 1 to 0, Beavers!

Top of the 3rd: P Jackson leads off with a single to right. Katagiri singles up the middle and Jackson goes to third, Lester's throw not in time. Fernandez grounds one to the right side and DeBoard makes a diving stop, but his only play is at first. Jackson scores. 1 to 1. Girard singles through the hole on the left side and Katagiri scores. 2 to 1, Giants. Stackhouse walks. Blachman lines out to short. Steinman hits a deep fly to left that Miller catches on the warning track. 3 outs.

Bottom of the 3rd: DeBoard hits a 2-out single on the ground past the shortstop. Jeff Moore doubles down the line in right. DeBoard races around and tries to score from 1st, but Katagiri gets the ball in quickly to Stackhouse, who fires home to nail DeBoard.

Bottom of the 4th: Chris Miller leads off with a blast to right center for a home run! 401 ft. Tied at 2.

Top of the 5th: The first three Giant hitters all single: Fernandez, Girard and Stackhouse. 3 to 2, Giants.

Bottom of the 5th: Freddie Lester gets his first hit as a Beaver with a 1-out triple into the right field corner. DeBoard hits one into the left field corner, but Steinman makes a great catch. Lester tags and trots home. Tied up, 3 to 3.

Top of the 7th: Girard hits a 1-out single to right. Call to the Bullpen: RHP Mike Zellers. Stackhouse swings at 3-2 pitch and misses! Blachman to the plate. Girard breaks for 2nd on the first pitch and C Manny Duran fires the ball to the center fielder, Girard going to 3rd. Blachman taps on to the right side. Jeff Moore charges, scoops, and fires to Zellers covering 1st for the out! Great play! 3 down!

Bottom of the 7th: PH Jeff Young pops out to short. Freddie Lester hits a grounder just inside the line past third for a double. DeBoard singles sharply to center. Too sharply, as Lester has to hold at 3rd. Moore hits a grounder to short. Fernandez fees it to second, but DeBoard slides in hard and no play is made to first. Lester scores! 4 to 3, Beavers! That chases Jackson from the mound. RHP Matt Goodnight enters. Chris Miller swings at a 2-0 pitch and sends it deep into right center, but Katagiri flags it down for the 3rd out.

Top of the 8th: Jeff Young stays in the game to play left and RHP John Blankenheim enters the game in the #4 slot. Steinman singles to right center. Blankenheim gets a 1-2 count on Quispe and then beans him. 1st pitch Ramirez is in the dirt for a wild pitch......Ramirez triples to the gap in right center, 2 runs score. 5 to 4, Giants. Call to the Bullpen: RHP Butch Frame. PH Dale Redmond singles up the middle. 6 to 4, Giants. Our bullpen is crap......

Lost - 6 to 4.

Baker went 6.1 innings, allowed 3 runs, 9 hits, 3 walks and struck out 2.
RHP Mike Zellers went 0.2 inning and struck out a batter.
RHP John Blankenheim (L 0-2) did not retire a batter, allowed 3 runs, 2 hits and beaned one.
RHP Butch Frame went 2 innings and allowed 2 hits.

We had 12 hits and made 1 error.

CF Freddie Lester, in his debut, hit a double and a triple, drew a walk and scored 2 runs. 2B Jason DeBoard had 3 hits and an RBI. 1B Jeff Moore hit 2 doubles and had an RBI (but not with a double). LF Chris Miller had 2 hits with a home run. RF Steve Alvey had 2 hits with his 2nd home run of the year.

For the Giants, 1B Phil Girard had 3 hits, stole a base and had an RBI. 3B Javy Ramirez had 2 hits with a triple, scored a run and had 2 RBIs.

I called Blankenheim some blankety-blank words.....I think LHP Chris Baker is the one to leave to make room for RHP Tommy Ford. Baker is 35 and though he is 1-1 with a 2.18 ERA, he has walked more than he has struck out and at 35 he is not going to be a part of our future greatness. If he clears waivers, we will send him to Reno (AAA) as insurance.

[Questdog]

Sunday, April 15, 2001

RHP Tommy Ford has joined the team, but we will give him a day or two to get acclimated before tossing him into the frying pan.

San Francisco Giants (7-5 .583 in 1st place in the NL West) at
Portland Beavers (6-6 .500 1 GB in 3rd place in the NL West)

Matt Gervais, SF (25 R 2-0 0.67 8.1-3.4-4.0 H/9-BB/9-K/9) vs Matt Cusumano, Por (28 R 1-0 1.93 7.1-3.9-2.6)

Lineups: Pos Name (Age Bats BA-OPS)
SF - 1: RF Yugo Katagiri (30 S .333-.928) 2: CF Adam Blachman (26 L .293-.688) 3: 2B Paul Stackhouse (34 R .163-.610) 4: 1B Phil Girard (26 L .300-.792) 5: C Jesus Quispe (26 S .167-.611) 6: 3B Javy Ramirez (37 L .212-.570) 7: LF Andy Espenshade (28 R 1st Game) 8: SS Octavio Fernandez (27 R .182-.515)

POR - 1: CF Freddie Lester (28 R .500-1.850) 2: 2B Jason DeBoard (28 R .360-.845) 3: 1B Jeff Moore (26 L .364-.995) 4: LF Chris Miller (26 L .447-1.081) 5: 3B Ralph Lamar (27 R .233-.596) 6: C Manny Duran (25 R .300-.749) 7: RF Steve Alvey (28 R .293-.906) 8: SS Pascual Galliano (25 L .250-.708)

Bottom of the 3rd: P Matt Cusumano strokes the first hit of the game for either team with a 2-out bouncer up the middle.

Top of the 4th: Blachman gets the Giants 1st hit and then steals 2nd, but is stranded there.

Bottom of the 4th: Jason DeBoard leads off with a double over the center fielder's head. Jeff Moore lines a single into center, DeBoard holds at 3rd. Chris Miller strikes out. Ralph Lamar flies out to center and DeBoard tags up. The throw is late and he scores! 1 to 0, Beavers!

Bottom of the 6th: With 1-out, Jeff Moore works a walk. Chris Miller hits a grounder through to right field. Moore heads for 3rd and Katagiri's throw is not in time. Miller now has an 11-game hitting streak going. He has played in 11 games this season. Ralph Lamar grounds one to Stackhouse at 2nd. He goes for the DP, but they don't get it and Moore scores! 2 to 0, Beavers.

Top of the 7th: Javy Ramirez walks to lead off the inning. It's the 5th walk Cusumano has issued. Espenshade grounds one through the hole to right and Ramirez takes 3rd without a throw. Octavio Fernandez grounds one to short, but the DP is not turned. FC at 2nd and Ramirez scores. 2 to 1, Portland.

Top of the 8th: New Pitcher: LHP Steve Castillo. Blachman grounds out to the pitcher. Stackhouse smashes a grounder through to left for a hit. Nick Steinman in to pinch-hit for Girard! Okay, we'll take that (famous last words). Steinman ropes one to right for a hit, Stackhouse holding at 2nd. Quispe grounds into a 4-6-3 DP!!

Top of the 9th: They pinch hit for their cleanup hitter, but not their #6 guy. Javy Ramirez grounds one back to the mound for the first out. Espenshade walks. Fernandez lines one into right center for a hit, Espenshade holding at 2nd. PH Dale Redmond sent up. Call to the Bullpen: RHP Mike Vogt. Let's find out if this kid has got the stuff or if his first appearance was just a fluke. Redmond drives one into deep right center, but Alvey tracks it down. Espenshade tags and moves up to 3rd. Yugo Katagiri up. Fernandez steals 2nd on a 2-0 pitch and again Duran makes no throw. 2 outs and the tying run at 3rd and teh go-ahead run at 2n. Katagiri hits a lazy fly ball to Lester in center!

Won - 2 to 1.

Cusumano (W 2-0) went 7 innings, allowed 1 run, 2 hits, 5 walks and struck out 5 (ties the team record!).
LHP Steve Castillo went 1.1 innings, allowed 3 hits and 1 walk.
RHP Mike Vogt (SV 1) went 0.2 inning, retiring both batters he faced

We had 7 hits and made no errors.

2B Jason DeBoard had 2 hits with a double and scored a run. 3B Ralph Lamar did not have a hit, but knocked in both of our runs. SS Pascual Galliano hit a double.

RHP Matt Cusumano and RHP Mike Vogt are now tied for my 2nd favorite Beavers! We have tomorrow off and then we are due in Atlanta on Tuesday.

We're shooting for a Wild Card now!